Yosemite Wilderness Permit — McGurk Meadow

McGurk Meadow: what makes it different

McGurk Meadow is the wilderness trailhead beside an old sheepherder's cabin on Glacier Point Road, the start of the Pohono Trail west toward Dewey Point. The meadow is 0.8 mile in. NPS sells 9 lottery places and 6 week-ahead places a day, and the permit forbids camping east of Bridalveil Creek.^1,2,5

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov puts the trailhead just west of Bridalveil Creek Campground, on the north side of Glacier Point Road. Yosemitehikes.com says it is 7.5 miles east along Glacier Point Road, about a mile past Summit Meadow, and marked by a McGurk Meadow sign.^5,6

The same guide says the lot used to be nothing at all. The road repaving that kept Glacier Point Road closed for all of 2022 added a parking area at the trailhead with room for about 40 cars, and food lockers sit there too. NPS lists no toilet. The guide puts the nearest pit toilet at Summit Meadow, just over a mile west.^6,1

The first leg

NPS counts 0.8 mile to the meadow, 1.9 miles to the junction with the Bridalveil Creek and Pohono Trail, and 4.1 miles to Dewey Point. Yosemitehikes.com measures the meadow walk at 1.8 miles round trip with about 100 feet of elevation change and rates it a 1 out of 10.^2,6

A 2012 hiker went down through a pine forest with many dead trees, passed the old cabin, crossed a footbridge over a tributary of Bridalveil Creek and followed a wet, muddy trail to the meadow. At the Pohono junction she turned left for Dewey Point.⁷

Terrain and difficulty

Gentle ground in the first mile and a half and rolling forest after that. The 2012 hiker ran into many downed trees between the junction and Dewey Point and crossed Bridalveil Creek a second time before the trail started to climb to the rim.⁷

The cabin is the landmark. Sierra News Online describes a one-room log cabin about 14 feet square, stabilized by Sierra Club volunteers in 1958. Sources disagree on the owner's first name: the 2012 blog says John McGurk, Sierra News Online says Jack McGurk, who lived there in the seasons of 1895 to 1897.^8,7

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at McGurk Meadow, overnight wilderness, lottery share: 9 people a day. NPS trailhead page, updated May 11, 2026, row McGurk Meadow under Wawona and Glacier Point Road. Window May 16 to October 14, 2026.¹
• 2026 daily quota at McGurk Meadow, overnight wilderness, week-ahead share: 6 people a day. The share released seven days ahead on a first come, first served basis. NPS prints it as a separate column.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

Recreation.gov gives this division two camping rules. You must be at least one air mile from Glacier Point Road before camping, and camping is prohibited east of Bridalveil Creek.⁵

Half Dome is not available from this trailhead, according to Recreation.gov, and the division text warns that Glacier Point Road is closed in winter and usually opens in mid May. NPS's note for the Westfall Meadow row, across the road, tells people to use the food lockers at McGurk Meadow.^5,1

Where it leads

The Pohono Trail runs west along the south rim of the Valley to Dewey Point, 4.1 miles by NPS count, with Taft Point and Inspiration Point further along on the same trail. A 2012 trip reached Dewey Point for views of El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks and the Valley in cold wind.^2,7

What trip reports say

On June 4, 2012 a Hiking Yosemite and Beyond writer and two companions walked 8 miles to Dewey Point in clouds. The meadow held a handful of lupines and shooting stars, no more, and the Glacier Point Road was closed by a storm after they got back to the car.⁷

On August 22, 2019 a Sierra News Online hiker saw few flowers on the trail, startled a bear eating coffeeberries beside the meadow, and backed away to give it room. On the McGurk trail she met two people near the end of the walk, and two rangers on the campground side.⁸

When to go from here

Yosemitehikes.com says June and July are best, when the meadow is green with dozens of kinds of flowers and the brook runs full, and warns of mosquitoes in any meadow still wet enough to be green. By late August the 2019 visit found the flowers mostly gone.^6,8

Reservation dates differ across NPS pages. The Wilderness Permits page (December 31, 2025) gives a late April start and the Reservations page (June 22, 2026) gives May. Use the trailhead page for this road: the Wawona window opens May 16 in 2026.^3,4,1

Compare with nearby entry points

• Westfall Meadow: Westfall Meadow begins across the road with the same 9 and 6 quota and a stricter first night: you must be an air mile from the road and one and a half miles from the trailhead.^1,5
• Bridalveil Creek: Bridalveil Creek starts at the campground just up the road, has a bigger quota of 15 and 10 and a flush toilet when the campground is open, and heads south toward Ostrander Lake and Wawona instead of west to the rim.^1,5
• Mono Meadow: Mono Meadow, further east, is Half Dome eligible and has a quota of 12 and 8. Recreation.gov requires you to camp in the Illilouette Basin or south of it on the first night.^1,5

Sources

1. Trailhead Information, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Trail Descriptions and Distances (One Way), Yosemite National Park, National Park Service (PDF, file modified October 2022). Read 2026-10-15.
3. Wilderness Permits, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Wilderness Permit Reservations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permits (McGurk Meadow, Westfall Meadow, Bridalveil Creek and Mono Meadow divisions), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Yosemite Hikes: McGurk Meadow, Yosemitehikes.com (guide site). Read 2026-10-15.
7. Dewey Point, Hiking Yosemite and Beyond (blog, hike of June 4, 2012). Read 2026-10-15.
8. Hiking Bridalveil Creek and McGurk Meadow Trails in Search of August Wildflowers, Sierra News Online (hike of August 22, 2019). Read 2026-10-15.
9. Wilderness Regulations, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a McGurk Meadow permit